After a two-week break, during which several Valmiera FC players represented their national teams in international matches, Tonybet Virslīga returned to Jānis Daliņš Stadium on Sunday with a painful and unjust defeat against Tamaz Pertia’s FK Liepāja.
The first half clearly displayed one team’s overwhelming dominance – the home side, Valmiera, controlled possession confidently, creating attack after attack and winning countless corner kicks, though with few direct threats on goal. Midway through the half, they earned a penalty, which unfortunately was not converted by the team captain, Jérémie Porsan-Clemente.
The second half started similarly to the first, but in the 54th minute, the visitors capitalized on one of their rare attacking moments. Marin Laušić delivered a precise long-range shot through a crowded defense, hitting the bottom corner to make it 1-0.
Just six minutes later, Gatis Kalniņš’s men managed to equalize in brilliant fashion – Maksims Toņiševs feinted with his right foot before striking a perfect shot into the top corner with his left. However, Valmiera’s joy quickly turned to disbelief when the head referee, Aleksandrs Golubevs, after hearing from VAR official Andris Treimanis, rushed to the screen to review the play. Moments later, with decisive gestures, the goal was overturned, citing Meisa Diop’s offside position during the goal-scoring moment. This controversial decision will certainly spark discussions long after the match.
Despite everything, Valmiera’s players continued to press forward, trying to breach Danijel Petković’s goal, but the Montenegrin goalkeeper was in top form, saving his team in seemingly impossible situations.
The curse of Valmiera losing to Pertia’s Liepāja at home stand continues. Meanwhile, there are still three important matches left in the season, the first of which is on Saturday at 2:00 PM at Jānis Daliņš Stadium against FS Jelgava.
